Feeler-motion for weft-replenishing looms having movable shuttle-boxes.



D. M. HOLLINS. PBELER MOTION FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS HAVING MOVABLE SHUTTLE BOXES.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 25. I913.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1v 1 16m \Wm" I D. M. HOLLINS.

PEBLER MOTION FOR WEPT REPLENISHING LOOMS HAVING MOVABLE SHUTTLE BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED APIL25. 1913.

1,130,598. Patented Mari, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2v ED STATES PATEN 10? DENIS MACHELL HOLLINS, 0F BLACKBURN, ENGLAND, AS SIGNOB T0 DRAll-EB COMPANY, OF HQPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE. 4

v FEELEBrMOTION FOR WEFT-BEPLENISHING LOOMS HAVING .MOVABLE SHUTTLE- BOXES.

Spepification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

a lication med April 25, 1913. Serial No. 763,572.

To all whom it may concern! Be it known that I, DENIS MAGHELL HOL- LINS, a subjectof King George V of Great Britain, residing at Blackburn, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeler- Motions for Weft-Replenishing Looms Having Movable Shuttle-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to weft replenishing looms in which a plurality of shuttles are employed and rising and falling shuttle boxes are arranged atone end of the loom andthe hopper or magazine for the filling carriers and the transferring mechanismlat the opposite end of the loom, and the object of my invention is to provide a simple and improved feeler motion for feeling on the yarn mass in the shuttles the separate shuttle boxes when said shuttle boxes are not in alinement with the lay, so that on detection of substantial exhaustion of the filling in the inactive shuttle indication will be made for the transfer of a fresh bobbin to the shuttle when it again becomes active and is picked across the loom. Provision isalso made for enabling the mechanism to be used to indicate for filling replenishment when one shuttle only is being used in the loom.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the left hand end of the lay and breast beam of a weft replenishing loom showing an embodiment of my invention and such other parts as are necessary to enable the improvements to be understood; Fig. 2 isa front elevation of some of the parts shown in Fig. 1, the lower of thetwo shuttle boxes being on a level with the race way Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 2, showing the position of the parts when the upper shuttle box is .on a level with the race way and exhaustion of filling on the bobbin in the shuttlecontained in the lower shuttle box is being indicated, and Fig. 4 is a detached end view showing an arrangement for use when only one shuttle is beingemployed in the vloom.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 represent a pair of rising and falling shuttle boxes, operated by any ordinary and suitable mechanism not shown, and carried by actuate said rock shaft to bring about the operation of thefilling replenishing mechanism, at the magazine end of the lay.

The above parts and their operation, are well known to those sk lled in the art, and as they form no part of the present invention, 2

need not be further described.

For the purposes of the invention I employ two feeler members 9 and 10, .the' former of WlllOh is adapted, when the boxes are' raised, as shown at Fig. 2, to present the lower shuttle box 2 opposite the level of the race way, to pass through an opening 1 inv the top of the shuttle box 1 and into the shuttle 11 contained therein. feeler member 10 is similarly adapted, when the boxes are lowered to present the upper shuttle box 1 opposite the level of the race way as shown at Fig. 3,- to pass through an opening in the bottom of the lower box 2 and into the shuttle 12 contained therein. The feeler members each have one end bent at right angles to form an engaging surface 9' and 10 to bear upon the yarn mass. The upper feeler member 9 is carried by an arm 13, a stud 13 on which is pivotally supported in a boss 14 on the shuttle box frame 15. "Fast on the rear end of the stud 13' is the boss of anarm 16 whose lower end is slotted as at 16. Working in the slot 16' is a pin'17 projecting fromau arm 18 the lower end of which is fast on the stud l9 pivotally mounted in a suitable fixed bracket 1.9, and having integral with or fastthereon an arm 20 carrying the lower feeler member 10.

The arm 18, connected with the lower feeler member is pivotally connected by a link 21 with atshort arm 22 fast on a stud 23 pivotally mounted in a boss 24 on the frame 15. The front end of the stud 23 has integral with or fast thereon a downwardly extendingcarm or plate 26 which isadaptd to be moved into or out of the path of an extension 5 on the transmitting lever 5. As the boxes rise to bring the lowest shuttle The lower box 2 opposite the race-way as shown in Fig. 2, the filling on the bobbin in the inactive shuttle-in the upper box 1, if not substantially exhausted, is brought into contact with the engaging surface of the upper feeler member 9, and causes the arm carry- 'ing said feeler member to be rocked.

tiall Through the pin andslot connection between the arms 16 and 18 the latter arm is also moved, and through link 21,- arm 22, and stud 23, the movement is transmitted to the arm or plate 26 which is consequently moved into the path of the transmitting lever extension 5 As the lay beats up, therefore, the transmitting lever is rocked on its pivot stud 5 and the latch 5' is moved from under the notch or shoulder on the lever 6 whereby the actuation of the rock shaft 8 is prevented as will be well understood by those skilled in the'art. If, however, the filling on the bobbin in the shuttle 11 were exhausted to the predetermined point, the raising of the shuttle boxes would not cause the arm carrying the upper feeler member to.be rocked and the plate 26 would thus not be moved into the path of the transmitting lever extension 5 so that the latch 5 would be left in engagement with the notch or shoulder on the lever 6 and by holding up said lever exhausted shuttle had been lowered to the" level of the race way and picked across to the magazine end of the loom. The particular mechanism for thus delaying the actionv of the replenishing means until the substanexhausted shuttle has been lowered to the evel of the raceway and picked across to the magazine side of the loom forms no essential part of the present invention and may be substantially as fully shown and de-' scribed in prior Patent No. 1,038,888, dated September 17, 1912.

The same action as has been above described takes place when the boxes are lowered, the filling on the bobbin in the lower shuttle l2 in this case being brought into contactwith the lower feeler member 10 which through ,the connections causes the plate or arm 26 to be positioned according to the mass of filling remaining on the bobbin.

A spring 24: encircling the boss 24 and having one end fast to the frame 15 and its other end fast to the hub of the arm 22,

tends to normally hold the plate 26 in a po- I claim as new .spring 29, from a suitably pivoted lever 30 having a roll 30 engaged by a cam 31 on the bottomshaft 32 of the loom. By this means the upper feeler member will be moved every other pick to contact with the filling in the shuttle and will be moved clear of said filling and of the shuttle before the latter is picked out. The upper feeler mom-- ,ber in this case is made longer or suitably adjusted to reach the filling.

The motion above described is simple and positive and avoids any ineffective action such as occurs in the case of filling detectors which feel horizontally through the shuttle, the feeling action being by the raising or lowering of the weft in the shuttles against the feeler members, excepting when the shuttle boxes are held stationary and weaving proceeds with one shuttle. only. The improved motion also allows much more time for determining the amount of filling left on the bobbin than does the ordinary horizontal feeler arrangement, since in the latter arrangement the feeling action is simply a blow at every other pick as the lay comes to the front center, whereas in the present case there is the easy motion of the, rising and falling of the boxes with a dwell at each extremity of movement during which time the feeler has an opportunity of steadying itself before indicating.

The details of construction and arrangement of my improvements may be varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention,what

and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1 1. A feeler motionfor weft replenishing looms having two movable shuttle boxes at one end of the lay, comprising a feeler member located above the boxes and adapted to contact with the filling in the shuttle in the upper box when the lower box is brought opposite the race way, a feeler member located below the boxes and adapted to contact with the filling in the shuttle in the lower box when the upper box is brought opposite the race way, and means whereby operation of either feeler member will con-' bination of a shifting shuttle-box for con- .taining a plurality of cells for the reception bination of .a shifting shuttle-box having a plurality of cells for the reception of shuttles, a feeler mechanism comprising a feeler above and a feeler below the shifting shuttle-box, and means to render the feeler mechanism effective to indicate the condition of the filling in a shuttle as said' shuttle is carried into inoperative position by shifting movement ofthe'shuttle-box.

5. In a filling replenishing loom, the combination of a shifting shuttle-box comprisa ing two cells for'the reception of shuttles, a feeler, means to render the feeler effective by shifting movement of the shuttle-box to detect the condition of the filling in the shuttle as it is carried to inactive position, and means controlled by said feeler to initiate filling replenishment When the filling in the inactive shuttle has reached a predetermined condition.

6. In a filling replenishing loom, the combination of the lay, a shifting shuttle-box comprising a plurality of cells for the re-" .p ception of shuttles, a feeler carried by thelay, and means to render the feeler efiective to detect the condition of the filling in the inactive shuttle by movement of said shuttle into inactive position. 1

7 In a filling replenishing loom, the combination of the lay having a shifting shuttle-box at one end, a feeler for feeling into the inactive shuttle to detect the "condition of filling therein, means to render the feeler effective as said shuttle is moved into in-:

active position, and means rendered operative by exhaustion of the filling in the inactive shuttle to a predetermined amount to initiate action of filling replenishing controlling means.

8. In a filling replenishing loom, the com- 1 'bination of a lay having a' shifting shuttlethe filling has reached a predetermined degree of exhaustion to initiate the action of filling replenishing controlling means.

9. In a filling replenishing loom, the com;

bination of the lay, a shuttle-box, a feeler mounted on the lay independent of and above the shuttle-box and adapted to enter the top ofthe shuttle-box to feel for'the filling in the shuttle, a transmitting lever, a

train of mechanism controlled thereby, a

swinging plate pivotally mounted on the lay independent of the feeler, and connections between the feeler and swinging plate to cause the latter to be swung out of contactingrelation with the transmitting lever as the lay beats up to cause operation of said train vof mechanism when the feeler indicates that the filling has been exhausted to .a predetermined extent.

10. In afilling replenishing loom, the combination of the lay, a shuttle-box, a feeler pivotally mounted above one end of the shuttle-box and adapted to feel through the top .thereof to detect the condition of the filling in a shuttle, a swinging plate pivotally mounted independently of the feeler above the other, end portion of the shuttle- 'box, a link connection between the feeler and swinging plate, and a transmitter a 1lapted to be actuated by the swinging ate.

11. In a filling replenishing loom, the combination of the lay, a shifting shuttlebox, a feeler above and a feeler below the shifting shuttle box, means to render the feelers effective to detect filling condition ina shuttle by up or down movement of the shuttle-box as a shuttle is moved to inactive position, and a train of mechanism the operative condition of which is controlled by either of said feelers.

12. In a filling replenishing loom, the combination of a shuttle-box having cells for containing a plurality of shuttles, a feeler to feel for the filling in. an inactive shuttle and detect the condition thereof, and means to render the detecting action of said feeler effective upon shifting movement of the shuttle-box as it removes a shuttle from active to inactive position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DENIS MACHELL HOLLINS.

Witnesses:

ERNOLD SIMPSON MosnLEY, MALCOLM SMETHURST. 

